


Kyber 6

by violetwolfraven



Category: Star Wars, Star Wars Rebels, star wars the clone wars
Genre: F/F, F/M, Found Family, Jedi Friendship, Kyber 6, M/M, Most of the ships don’t come in till a bit later, Nightmares, Rebellion, Remembering past trauma, Survive Order 66, survival AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-04
Updated: 2019-12-28
Packaged: 2020-11-23 19:44:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20895107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/violetwolfraven/pseuds/violetwolfraven
Summary: In this story, the 6 younglings who got their kyber crystals first survive Order 66. They are raised by Hondo, but eventually strike out on their own. They plan to do nothing but survive and protect each other. They were only kids when the Temple burned; protecting other people is not their responsibility.But to be that selfish is not the Jedi way.





	1. Chapter 1

_Noise and fear and death. That was all that the clones brought as they stormed the temple._  
_ There was no mercy, not even for the little children. Katooni could hear the babies screaming._  
_ "We have to help them!" Katooni hissed, prying at the vent cover._  
_ Petro grabbed her arm, "No. There's too many of them."_  
_ "They're killing them!" Katooni exclaimed, "They're too little to fight back! We aren't."_  
_ "Katooni, he's right," Zatt agreed, "We have to go!"_  
_ "If we survived the pirates, we can survive this, too!" Gungi roared quietly._  
_ "No, we can't," Petro insisted, "There are too. many. of. them. And if I'm saying that, you know it's true. They've killed masters; what chance would we have?"_  
_ "I never had you pegged as a coward, Petro," Katooni said coldly._  
_ Petro's ears turned red, but he stood his ground, "Katooni, if we go out there, they'll only kill us, too. Use your head. You're smarter than this."_  
_ Katooni took a last look out at the room, then nodded reluctantly._  
_ And the six of them crept away through the vents. Right as someone grabbed Katooni's ankle._  
...  
Katooni woke with a start.  
It was just a dream.  
Katooni wasn't nine years old anymore; she was twenty-five. That night, the dawn of the empire, was sixteen years ago.  
"Can't sleep?" Ganodi asked. The Rodian was sitting up in her bunk, too.  
The groan of their ship, _The Sunset_, sounded comforting somehow. They'd had her for the last eight years. She wasn't especially big; only two cabins. One for the girls, and one for the boys.  
Needless to say, the boys' cabin was a little more crowded.  
"I'm fine, Ganodi," Katooni said.  
"You dreamt about the night the temple was taken," Ganodi said.  
She said it like she was stating a fact; not asking a question.  
Suddenly, the door to their cabin opened.  
Zatt was standing in the doorway, looking tired.  
"We all saw the nightmare, Kat," He said, coming in and sitting down on one of their empty bunks.  
"What, the other guys aren't coming in, too?" Katooni asked sarcastically.  
"Nah, they have this weird thing about the girls' cabin. And they think you need to be alone for some reason," Zatt said, "I think we both know that that's never what any of us need."  
"Are you sure you're okay?" Ganodi asked.  
"Like I said; I'm fine," Katooni said, standing up and walking towards the doorway, "And actually, I do want to be alone right now."  
"You've woken all of us up with that nightmare six times this month," Ganodi pointed out, "How long until you talk to us?"  
"I don't know yet," Katooni admitted, "But if anyone needs me, I'll be on the bridge."  
"Don't worry," she heard Ganodi say as she walked away, "You and me might not be able to get her to open up, but we all know that he probably can."  
Zatt responded, "Heh. We all know that. But does he?"  
Katooni growled under her breath. Those two liked to stick their noses into other people's business. She knew very well how well they thought they knew her.  
Unfortunately, they were probably right.  
Katooni made her way to the bridge, sitting in the copilot's seat instinctively.  
This might be her ship, but the pilot was always, and would always be Ganodi. They took turns being her copilot.  
But Katooni came up here because when she needed a quiet place to think. Watching the stars was particularly effective to calm her thoughts. And the others had likely just gone back to sleep, so the ship was largely silent.  
"Hey."  
Oh no.  
Petro sat down next to her, in the pilot's seat.  
"Byph said that nightmare came from you," He said, "That's the sixth time this month."  
"Thank you, Petro, I hadn't already noticed that."  
Petro smirked, "Hey, no need to get pissy."  
"You want to talk about pissy?" Katooni asked, "Think of how pissy Ganodi's going to be when she finds you sitting in her seat."  
"Fine." He moved, sitting in the seat behind her, and Katooni swiveled her seat around until it locked in the backwards position, facing him.  
"Seriously though," Petro said, "Last time any of us had that nightmare was six years ago. You okay?"  
"Yeah," Katooni responded, "I'm fine."  
"You're good at a lot of things. Lying isn't one of them."  
"Want to talk about terrible lying? Remember Ahsoka Tano?"  
"Yeah, she was the worst at lying about anything. Doesn't change the fact that you're dodging."  
Katooni sighed, "I really don't want to talk about it. Can you just leave me alone?"  
"Nope," he just stared her down, not willing to back down, "Not until you tell me what's wrong with you."  
Katooni scoffed, "Bet you wouldn't follow me if I just went back to bed."  
"You're right, I wouldn't. But you can't stay in your cabin forever, and Zatt doesn't have any problems with invading your space. Wouldn't you prefer to get bothered by me?"  
Katooni punched his arm, "You wish."  
"Doesn't it ever bother you how much time he spends in your cabin, though?"  
"He's the big brother I never had and we've all had to room with pirates before, so no. Not really. And girls' rooms aren't toxic or anything, Petro. I really don't get your aversion. Ganodi and I aren't that disgusting."  
"After that time you both got sick on Florum, I beg to differ."  
"Please. Gungi threw up more than both of us combined."  
Petro chuckled, "Yeah, he did. And just an observation, here: you're not leaving."  
Katooni stood up, "Watch me."  
"You know I can just look in your head later if I want to know what's really wrong with you!" Petro called.  
Katooni smiled to herself before calling back, "Yeah, you can, but you won't!"  
...  
The next morning, Katooni could sense that everyone was trying to pretend her nightmare hadn't happened. She must have been putting off some very strong waves of 'I don't want to talk about it.'  
Gungi roared awkwardly, breaking the silence, "What's on the agenda for today?"  
"I heard a rumor there's an Star Destroyer parked over Jedha," Ganodi offered, "And that they're pulling up Kyber Crystals. As if they hadn't already desecrated everything the Jedi ever stood for."  
"We're not going to go disrupt a Kyber shipment," Zatt said, "Not if there's a Star Destroyer there. It'd be suicide."  
"I dunno," Petro said, "Might be kind of fun. I'm tired of just sitting up here, waiting for them to come find us and finish us off."  
"They don't know to look," Katooni pointed out, "Why give them a reason to?"  
"Because they have no right to take Kyber Crystals from Jedha!" Byph clicked.  
"Maybe so," Zatt agreed, "But there are six of us and hundreds of them. And we never even finished our training."  
"Still, it's better than just waiting around here!" Petro protested, "What've we been doing for the last sixteen years? Running little hits for smugglers when we need money, dodging the imperials, and not doing anything about all the people they killed? Think of Ahsoka! Think of Master Yoda, and Master Windu, and Master Kenobi! They'd all still be alive if not for the Empire! We'd all have all our training!"  
"Revenge isn't the Jedi way," Zatt pointed out.  
"Screw the Jedi way!" Petro argued, "Where are all the other Jedi? They're dead! And I think it's about time we did something about it."  
"You want to go just take on the Empire?" Ganodi asked, "I swear that wasn't what I meant!"  
"Remember learning about the Guardians of the Whills?" Petro asked, "They operated in the gray without tipping too far towards the dark side! We can, too."  
"We aren't Guardians of the Whills, Petro," Katooni pointed out, "And the Empire has Inquisitors, and Darth Vader, and the Emperor. We couldn't win that fight if we tried."  
"Numbers didn't seem to bother you when we took on pirates," Petro pointed out, "You stood with me then, why not now?"  
"We were eight years old!" Katooni protested, "And we were outnumbered ten to one; not ten-thousand to one!"  
"Then we call Hondo. He's no Empire-supporter, and—"  
"Most of his men abandoned him years ago and you know it. He doesn't have control of an army anymore. And if you remember, his blood son isn't exactly the most pro-Jedi. He'd turn on us in an instant."  
"So we call on the old—"  
"We are not calling on the old clones, Petro! Most of them still can't trust their own minds, and those who can are too few in number!"  
Petro stared Katooni down, and spoke telepathically, using the Force.  
_ "Then we find the Rebellion."_  
Katooni responded firmly, _"No. It's too dangerous. Bodies from both sides follow wherever they go."_  
_ "Do you want to keep living in fear? We can't hide on this ship forever. You know it, I know it, everybody knows it."  
"The minute we sign on with them is the minute we paint targets on our backs."  
"I'd rather die a moving target than a stationary one."_  
_ "Do you really want to risk the others' lives?"  
"Their lives are already at risk just by being Force-sensitive. I for one would rather go down fighting."  
"That's not—."  
"Katooni, do you want the nightmares to stop? The ghosts of our teachers and classmates are trying to tell you to fight back. I'm getting the message. Are you?"_  
"You guys know we can all hear you, right?" Ganodi asked.  
"Of course," Katooni said out loud. She sighed, "I really hate to admit it, but I think Petro's right. We can't just sit around and wait for the Empire to come for us. We have to go find the Rebellion."  
"That's a terrible idea," Zatt said, "But I don't have a better one. Let's do it."  
"They won't be easy to find," Ganodi pointed out, "How'll we do that?"  
"Isn't it obvious?" Petro asked, "We use the Force."  
...  
The six of them sat in a circle, cross-legged. Katooni could tell that they were all a little nervous.  
They hadn't tried to meld their powers like this since right after Order 66. It would increase all of their range, and help them find the Rebellion.  
But it also would increase the chances that someone else with the Force could sense them, which was why they tried not to do this if they could help it.  
_ "Ready?"_ Petro asked them all telepathically. Each of them nodded. They were.  
They closed their eyes and reached out with the Force, first feeling for each other. To give themselves the best chance of finding what they needed to find, they had to be perfectly in-sync.  
It took them a few minutes to let their collective Force flow together.  
Once they felt comfortable with that, they all reached out.  
At first, there was nothing; lightyears worth of empty space. Then systems appeared, full of people. A few were occupied by the Empire. A few were free. A few were dead worlds. Or, at least, worlds with no people, or very few.  
_ "I sense something,"_ Zatt said, _"On Tatooine."_  
_ "A Force-sensitive kid,"_ Gungi added, _"I sense him, too."_  
_ "But he's not with the Rebellion,"_ Katooni said, _"Stay focused, guys."_  
_ "Nothing on Naboo,"_ Ganodi updated, _"Not even any Force-sensitives."  
"Geonosis is dead,"_ Byph realized, _"It shouldn't be."  
"It was a Separatist system, anyway,"_ Petro said.  
_ "Doesn't mean the entire race deserved to die,"_ Katooni chided, feeling out deeper into the galaxy.  
Where were the rebels hiding..?  
_ "Wait,"_ Katooni said, _"I think I feel something."_  
_ "Where?"_ Zatt asked.  
_ "Malachor system."_  
The others were silent while they felt for it, too.  
_ "It's obscured by a lot of darkness," _Byph pointed out, _"That place is strong with the Dark Side."_  
_ "It could be a trap,"_ Ganodi agreed.  
_ "I don't think it is,"_ Katooni insisted, _"It feels... familiar."_  
_ "It can't be,"_ Gungi said suddenly,_ "This must be a trap!"  
"It feels too much like her to be faked," _Katooni insisted.  
_ "Kat, we looked for other survivors, including her,"_ Zatt pointed out, _"She was one of the first ones we looked for, and we couldn’t find her. We were sure she was dead."  
"Well, we could have been wrong. We were a bunch of nine-year-olds, Zatt. What are the chances we could find a mostly-trained former padawan like her who was actively trying not to be found?”  
“Pretty high, actually,”_ Zatt said,_ “Even as little kids, the Masters said we made a formidable team.”  
"Katooni, how sure are you?" _Katooni opened her eyes to see Petro staring at her.  
_ "Positive. I'd know that Force-signature anywhere."_  
They both closed their eyes again.  
_ "Then I think she's right."  
"But Petro, we looked for her. Don't you think we would've found her?"_ Ganodi asked.  
_ "She knows how to cover her tracks," _Petro pointed out, _"She was trained by Anakin freaking Skywalker; I'd be surprised if six nine-year-olds could find her. And Katooni's always been the best of us at recognizing Force-signatures."_  
There was a mental sigh before Zatt said, _"Fine. You make a good point."  
"If it is her, we have to find her!"_ Gungi exclaimed.  
_ "And even if it isn't, we owe it to her to check,"_ Byph added.  
They all opened their eyes.  
"Ganodi," Petro said, "Set a course for Malachor."  
"I still don't like this," Ganodi grumbled, "And guys, if we get killed, I'm going to kill all of you."  
"That makes no sense," Gungi announced, "Which is fine. Let's go."  
The six headed to the bridge.


	2. Chapter 2

It would take them a few hours to get to Malachor, so Katooni headed to the girls' cabin.  
In a drawer under her bunk, there was a bag. Only a few things she had held onto over the years.  
They all had one like it, Katooni guessed. She had never asked what the others kept, but she saw that no matter where they went, no matter who they were running from, they always kept those bags. Katooni had seen some of the others run back into an exploding ship to grab their bags.  
Not that she judged them for that. She would have done that to save at least one thing in hers.  
Katooni opened her largely empty bag. She hadn't held on to much.  
A long coat, made of what she was pretty sure was some type of leather. Hondo had given her that when she was sixteen, when she and the others had left him for good, striking out on their own.  
A pair of leather bracers, which she had used when she was thirteen and sprained both her wrists on a job, so that she could keep running jobs even with her injuries.  
A holo of her and the others as kids, smirking after their first successful heist. They had been eleven in that holo, but had already seen so much death that it didn't bother them anymore.  
A med kit she had been carrying since they first left the temple. They hadn't had to use it often, but she kept carrying it, just in case.  
And at the bottom of her bag...  
Katooni picked up the lightsaber she hadn't touched in sixteen years.  
"It feels weird taking it out after this long, right?" Petro's voice asked.  
Katooni turned around to see him standing in the doorway.  
"We put them away for a very good reason," Katooni said, "And I thought you had a thing about being in the girls' cabin."  
"Technically, the doorway doesn't count as the cabin."  
Katooni nodded at his lightsaber, "Sure you remember how to use that thing?"  
"Come on," Petro responded with a smirk, "You know I was always the best at lightsaber combat."  
"Sure. Did you remember to adjust the length to compensate for the fact that you're not nine years old anymore?"  
Petro started fiddling with his lightsaber, "Of course."  
Katooni adjusted her own lightsaber and ignited it, feeling the energy flow beneath her fingertips. The bright, blue blade hummed as she moved it, getting accustomed to the weight.  
Petro ignited his, too. It was blue, like hers.  
He raised an eyebrow, "Want to see if you still remember how to use that thing?"  
"Not right now," Katooni said strategically, deactivating the blade and clipping the lightsaber to her belt. She pulled on the coat to cover it.  
Katooni crossed the room and grabbed Ganodi's bag from under the bunk.  
"She's not going to be happy you touched that," Petro noted.  
"She's flying, and she told me to grab her lightsaber for her," Katooni explained. Luckily, the lightsaber was right on top, so she didn't have to poke around in Ganodi's things for long.  
She walked up to the door, but Petro didn't move.  
Much to Katooni's annoyance, the human was a lot taller than her. She had to look up to glare him in the eye.  
"Move," She said firmly.  
"We never finished that conversation about why you're having nightmares," Petro pressed, "And you can't run away if you're trapped in your cabin."  
"Unless you want to have that fight, you should move," Katooni said calmly.  
"I'd win."  
"If you're sure..." Katooni put a hand on her lightsaber  
"Fine." He moved aside and let her go to the bridge.  
"Thank you," Ganodi said as Katooni handed her the lightsaber, "Wow. I haven't used this thing in years."  
"Me neither," Katooni agreed, "It feels weird on my belt. I just hope we can remember how to fight with them."  
"The boys went down to the cargo hold to practice. You can go join them if you want."  
"No thanks," Katooni said, sitting down in the copilot seat.  
"Why not? I remember you being almost as good at lightsaber combat as Petro."  
"Don't let him hear you say that. It'd probably just fan his ego."  
"Have you know two been fighting?"  
"Please," Katooni snorted, rolling her eyes, "We're always fighting."  
"True. Have you tried talking to Zatt about it?"  
"Why would I talk to Zatt about it?"  
"'Cause like it or not, he's the closest thing to a big brother any of us have. He's resolved a lot of arguments around here, if you remember?"  
"Well, maybe I like it better when we're fighting," Katooni said strategically.  
Ganodi snickered, "On the rare occasion that you're actually getting along, the two of you have done some very risky and very stupid things."  
"Exactly why it's better for everyone that we're fighting," Katooni said, "Want me to adjust your lightsaber to compensate for your height?"  
Ganodi handed her the lightsaber.  
Katooni did some quick math; judging how Ganodi was a couple inches shorter than her, and would need her lightsaber to be a little shorter in comparison.  
"I'll take the wheel for a couple minutes," Katooni said, handing Ganodi the lightsaber, "Go spar with the boys."  
"Nope," Ganodi chided, "Don't touch my seat." She put the ship in autopilot and took the lightsaber, igniting it to test her memory.  
"Did I judge the length right?" Katooni asked.  
"It's perfect," Ganodi said, practicing a couple moves from behind the seats.  
"Are you going to spar with the boys?"  
Ganodi smirked, "Only if you are."  
Katooni smirked back, "Fine. Let's go."  
...  
In the cargo hold, Katooni and Ganodi stood on the supervisors' platform, watching as Byph and Gungi fought while Petro and Zatt watched.  
As they watched, Gungi roared a battle cry and kicked Byph, knocking him down and his lightsaber away.  
"No fair," Byph clicked, "You were always better at lightsaber combat than me."  
"Too bad, so sad," Gungi roared.  
"My turn," Petro said, "Unless you girls feel like jumping in." He looked up at them.  
"Depends on what you're doing," Ganodi admitted.  
"Tournament," Zatt explained, "Just like back at the temple, when the others would bet on who wins between us."  
"I won against Zatt," Petro added, "And you just saw Gungi win, so all that's left is you two."  
"You want to?" Ganodi asked.  
"I'm game if you are," Katooni agreed, tossing her coat aside. She vaulted over the railing, letting the Force flow through her to land safely. After only a moment's hesitation, Ganodi followed her.  
Both their lightsabers went out and they fought with every trick they knew.  
Being smaller and lighter, the girls had always moved faster than the boys did, and Katooni could barely keep track of the fight herself; she was amazed that the boys kept calling out encouragement and suggestions.  
Katooni ducked down low, creeping around Ganodi's right flank and kicked her in the knee, knocking her down so she could hold the blue lightsaber to her neck.  
Ganodi deactivated her green one, signaling her surrender, "I don't remember learning that one at the Temple."  
Katooni helped her up, "That's cause I didn't learn it from the Temple. I learned that one from Hondo."  
"Isn't that cheating?"  
"Zatt?" Katooni asked.  
"Nope! Totally legal!" Zatt called.  
"So are we going three-on-three?" Petro asked, "Katooni vs. Gungi vs. me?"  
"Sounds fun," Gungi growled, "Katooni?"  
"Good with me," Katooni said, "Boys, you're going down."  
"Don't count on that," Petro challenged.  
The three of them circled each other, and all three seemed to decide to attack at once.  
Katooni fought as hard as she could, but she had to admit; fighting both the boys was harder than fighting Ganodi, and she was out of practice.  
To be fair, so were the other two.  
Gungi kept leaving his left flank open, which allowed Katooni to slip in and kick him in the side, knocking him against the wall.  
As in a real fight, she could have killed him, Gungi was out and Katooni was left fighting only Petro.  
"_You should probably just give up now before you end up getting your tail kicked!_" They had both slowed down a little, and Petro took that time to send a telepathic message.  
_ "You're just scared you're going to lose."  
"Pfft. The only way you're winning is if I let you win."_  
_ "Well then, you should have no problem proving it."_  
With that, Katooni went back to fighting full-speed, catching him off guard.  
Katooni felt a flush of triumph as she managed to push Petro back against the wall.  
"Who should give up now?" Katooni asked as Petro barely managed to hold off her downstrike.  
Petro smirked, "You."  
He vaulted upward off the wall, and Katooni had to toss aside her lightsaber to keep it from slashing a hole in the side of the ship.  
In a flash, Petro had done a backflip over her head and was holding his deactivated lightsaber to her back.  
"I win," he said, and she could practically hear his smirk.  
"Shut up," Katooni muttered, "So, the order of who's best at dueling hasn't changed; Petro, me, Gungi, Zatt, Ganodi, Byph."  
"If I'd been facing off against Gungi, I could've beat him," Zatt said.  
"I'd like to see you try," Gungi retorted.  
"You guys are free to sort that out," Katooni said, "But since my position in second place is secure, I'll be on the bridge."  
"I'll be... in the boys' cabin," Petro decided, following Katooni out of the cargo hold.  
As soon as they were out of earshot, Petro spoke again.  
"Hope there's no hard feelings. You haven't beat me in a fight since we were seven."  
"Ten," Katooni corrected.  
"I was sick that time. Doesn't count."  
"Fine. Seven. And there's no hard feelings. At least, no more than normal."  
"Got it," He muttered.  
Katooni looked back for a second as he opened the door to his cabin, trying to sense his emotions. Something was bothering him, she could tell that much. But...  
He was... blocking her. Katooni couldn't help but feel a little offended at that.  
In the Temple, Force-sensitives figured out how to block their minds from most others' powers pretty early on. It was the only way to ever have your thoughts to yourself. Of course, there were certain limits to this. No one could hide their thoughts from Master Yoda, and blocking someone who was much older than you was hard. But blocking other Younglings had always come naturally. It was easy. Barely required effort, really. Most Younglings over the age of six could block their classmates even in their sleep. Sometimes, it was even possible to block your mind from specific people, but leave it open to others. Basically, blocking wasn't exactly an uncommon thing.  
But the six of them had never blocked anything from each other.  
Never, since they had met, had any of their little group blocked their minds off. To other Younglings, sure. If they worked together hard enough, sometimes they had even been able to hide their thoughts from a Knight, or even a Master.  
But none of them had ever even tried to block each other. It was why they worked so well together. In fact, Katooni credited the fact that they were still alive to that trust. To that bond.  
So why would Petro be blocking her now?  
Sure, she figured they were grown up now. She herself, sometimes did want some space, which was why she spent so much time on the bridge. Maybe this was just Petro's way of taking some space of his own.  
But something was still weird about that. Never, not even when all six of them had hit puberty and started snarking each other like there was no tomorrow, had any of them blocked each other.  
And Katooni hadn't felt any hurt or offense or worry from the others, which she was sure she would have if they had sensed him blocking them, too.  
Now she had a better question: Was he blocking just her, or the others, too?  
...  
When they got to the Malachor system, everything was surprisingly quiet.  
"Approaching the planet's surface," Ganodi said from the pilots seat.  
Gungi was in the copilot seat, "Looks weird down there."  
Zatt held up his scanner, "Nothing on the surface. Not even any vegetation. Whole place is basically dead."  
"What about under the surface?" Byph asked, "Like on Ilum."  
"Good idea," Zatt said, "Scanning under the surface... still nothing. Wait."  
"What?" Gungi asked.  
"Ganodi, go about...two degrees south," Zatt said.  
Ganodi made the adjustment, "Why?"  
"Sensors are picking up something that could be a life form," Zatt said, "About 200 ft below the surface, passing right below us right... now."  
Ganodi pulled up suddenly, before descending vertically.  
As they landed, Ganodi looked back at the others, "So... you're all sure we want to do this? I mean, if it's not her..."  
"It is," Katooni insisted.  
"Okay," Ganodi said, "What's the plan?"  
"There's a breach in the surface only about 500 ft off," Zatt said, "We can get below the surface there and start looking around."  
"Grab anything you think you might need, guys," Katooni said, "On the off chance I'm wrong, you all need to be ready."  
"You're not wrong," Petro insisted. But Katooni saw him grabbing an extra blaster.  
Katooni herself grabbed an electro-staff and slung it across her back, just in case.  
She could see that the others were outfitted with any weapons they might need; not just their lightsabers.  
...  
When they reached the crevasse, Zatt walked around the hole, scanning it.  
"It's about 200 ft straight down," He said, "Nothing for us to vault off of. It's too far for us to jump. Even if we use the Force. We'd never make it."  
"The Sunset is too big to fit in there," Ganodi pointed out.  
"What if we used some rope to lower ourselves down?" Byph asked.  
"No, we don't have enough," Gungi said, "Even if we did, we don't have anything to fasten it to."  
"We don't need rope," Katooni realized.  
"Did you not hear the part where if we jump, we'll fall to our deaths?" Zatt asked, "Even with the Force, we'd never make it."  
"I heard you," Katooni said, "What if we used the Force, just not that way? What if we levitated each other down there?"  
"That could work," Zatt said, "As long as all six of us concentrated the whole time. Who's first?"  
"Me," Katooni said, "It's my idea, anyway. Just get me down as far as you can, and I can probably land the rest."  
"It's worth a try," Gungi ventured.  
"Seems risky," Petro said.  
"Since when are you worried about risks?" Katooni retorted, sitting down on the edge of the hole.  
"Since if we drop you, you're dead for sure."  
"You're not going to drop me," Katooni said, "I trust you guys. And besides; what are the chances all five of you will lose concentration at once? You're not going to drop me." She nodded to the others, "I jump on three."  
They nodded in confirmation.  
"One...two...three."  
Katooni slid over the edge, and only fell a couple feet before the others lifted her, and she hovered a little under the edge.  
Looking up, Katooni could see that the others had their hands stretched out and their faces screwed up in concentration, watching as they supported her.  
"Good!" She called up, "Lower me slowly!"  
Katooni started slowly descending.  
All around her, it was dark. Barely a source of light anywhere.  
There were buildings made of black stone, but many of them seemed broken down into pieces.  
She was about three quarters of the way down when she stopped, just floating.  
"We can't levitate you any farther!" She heard Petro yell, "We're going to have to drop you!"  
"Okay!" She yelled.  
She felt the Force around her drop, and Katooni fell, diving towards the ground the way she was trained, flipping to slow herself down and managing to land on her feet with a soft thump on some type of sandy floor.  
"Katooni?" Petro called down.  
"I'm okay!" She yelled, "Whoever's next, jump!"  
Katooni watched as naturally, Petro was the next to jump down, landing the same way she did.  
"This place is really weird," Petro noted.  
There were a bunch of life-sized statues of people fighting around them.  
"You guys okay?" Zatt yelled down.  
"Yes!" Katooni called, "Come on down!"  
Gungi was the next one down, but he started floating too high up.  
"Zatt, Ganodi, and Byph must not be able to support him that far down," Petro realized.  
"Well, he's still too far up for them to just drop him," Katooni said.  
"He's a Wookiee," Petro pointed out, "He probably wouldn't die."  
"Yeah, but broken legs aren't much better," Katooni shot back. She though about it, "Wait. What if we caught him?"  
"That can work. Hey guys! Drop him! We'll catch him!"  
Gungi dropped, and Katooni reached out as fast as she could to catch him, and sensed Petro helping her.  
They slowed him down just enough for him to flip out of it himself and land the drop.  
"Someone else come down!" Katooni called, and she saw someone too small to be Byph, but too big to be Ganodi drop into the darkness.  
A few seconds later, Katooni helped catch Zatt before he hit the ground.  
"You know, this could actually work," Zatt admitted, "Helping each other get down was a good call, Katooni."  
"Thanks," Katooni looked up, "Okay. Looks like Byph is coming down next.  
This time, Ganodi couldn't support an adult Ithorian like Byph, and the others had to catch him.  
"Come on, Ganodi!" Zatt yelled up.  
"It's kind of a long way down!" She called.  
"You're a pilot! Are you saying you're afraid of heights?" Petro yelled.  
"Only when I'm not in the ship!"  
"Just jump, Ganodi! We'll catch you!" Katooni called.  
After a few seconds of silence, Ganodi jumped, and true to their word, the others caught her before she landed.  
"Okay, we're all down here," Ganodi said, "What now?"  
"Now, we need to find out if this was a trap," Katooni said, "That way."  
She pointed to what looked like a giant pyramid, the base of which was only a short distance away.  
As they walked towards it, Zatt shook his scanner with frustration.  
"My scanner is on the fritz," He muttered, "Something's... interfering."  
"Probably the sheer amount of Dark Side in this place," Petro groaned, "It's driving me insane."  
"You going to be okay?" Katooni asked.  
"Yeah, it's fine. Zatt, can you get the scanner working again?"  
"I think so." He tapped some buttons on it, "Reading nothing except a single life form, somewhere near the pyramid."  
"Split up," Katooni ordered, "Find her."  
"And if it's not who we think it is?" Byph asked.  
"Call for help," Katooni said.  
Katooni went right, circling the pyramid. She could sense the others fanning around nearby, but she stayed on-guard, keeping a hand on her lightsaber.  
The sense was getting stronger... not far now...  
Suddenly, a figure jumped out of the darkness, swinging twin lightsabers at her head.


	3. Chapter 3

Katooni let out a yell as she managed to block the lightsabers, barely, but the figure was taller than she was, and used their height to push Katooni down until she managed to spin out of the way. 

Only then did Katooni get a good look at the figure. 

It was a woman, Togruta in race. Orange skin with white markings and white-and-blue montrals. 

Katooni felt a jolt as she recognized those markings. She was right. It was her. 

"Ahsoka!" Katooni exclaimed, "It's really you!"

"How do you know my name?" Ahsoka growled. Her voice sounded like it hadn't been used in a long time. Katooni now realized how thin Ahsoka really was, as if she hadn't eaten in a while. 

"It's me," Katooni said, "Katooni. I was a youngling. I helped rescue you when you were captured by pirates at my Gathering."

"Katooni?" Ahsoka asked, "How did you survive? Are there others—?"

"My friends, the Kyber 6," Katooni responded, "They're alive, too. They're here." 

She took a look at Ahsoka's lightsabers now that they weren't trying to kill her. 

They weren't the green blades the former padawan had wielded the last time Katooni had seen Ahsoka. These sabers were pure white in color, and the hilts were simpler. Katooni couldn't help but wonder where she had gotten the crystals to make new lightsabers. Last they had heard, Illum had been cleaned out, mined of every last crystal. 

"Ahsoka?" Katooni looked over at Gungi, who had run up, followed by Ganodi and Zatt. Petro and Byph ran up from the other side.

Ahsoka lowered her lightsabers, but let them stay ignited, for light. 

"How did you survive?" She asked. 

"We can tell you that story back on the ship," Katooni said before anyone else said anything, "Ahsoka, how long have you been trapped here?"

"Weeks," she muttered, "I lost track of the days."

"We need to get her back to the ship," Gungi growled quietly to Katooni, "She's likely suffering from dehydration, starvation, from the looks of it, several minor injuries... even not knowing anything about how she ended up here, she's lucky to be alive."

"Our ship is this way," Katooni said, pointing with her lightsaber, "We can swap stories when we get there."

As they got to the crevasse, a new problem presented itself. 

"Getting down here was easy enough," Petro said, "How are we going to get back up?"

"It's way too far for any of us; even me," Zatt admitted, "Uh, Ahsoka, I'm the best at jumping."

"It's far," Ahsoka reasoned, "But you should make it if the rest of us throw you."

"Using the Force?" Byph asked.

"Yes," Ahsoka said, "Ka— a Master and padawan that I knew did it all the time. It shouldn't be any trouble for even one of us to throw Zatt up there."

Zatt nodded and crouched down, "Gungi should be able to get me up what I can't jump, okay, Buddy? I'll jump on the count of three. One, two, three!"

Zatt jumped and Gungi shoved him upwards with the Force, and he made it to the top of the crevasse. 

"I'm next," Gungi said before anyone else could claim it.

One by one, they threw each other up.

...

“I was on Mandalore when Order 66 came,” Ahsoka explained, “Most of the clones turned, but one, Captain Rex, didn’t have his chip. They couldn’t make him hurt me, so he helped me escape. He and a few of his brothers are still alive. They joined the Rebellion.”

“Is anyone else alive?” Ganodi asked, “Master Skywalker—“

“My master is dead,” Ahsoka said firmly, “As for everyone else… do you remember Caleb Dume?

“Yeah,” Petro said, “He was a few years older than us, but he was at the temple the same time we were.”

“Yeah,” Zatt agreed, “We knew him a bit.”

“He’s alive,” Ahsoka said, “Or, he was. The last time I saw him. He took on a new padawan of his own; a boy named Ezra Bridger. And… Master Yoda is alive.”

“Seriously?” Petro asked, “What is he—a hundred years old by now?”

Ahsoka smirked, “Try closer to nine hundred. So… how did you escape?”

“Similar to how you did,” Katooni explained, “A couple of clones took pity on us. They got us to a shuttle.”

“And from there, Ganodi flew us to Florum,” Petro finished.

Ahsoka raised an eyebrow, “You six have been crashing with Hondo all this time?”

“Not exactly,” Katooni said, “We stayed with him for a while, but we left about nine years ago.”

“So, how’d you end up on Malachor?” Gungi asked.

“We were looking for a weapon of sorts,” Ahsoka explained, “Well, not really a weapon. It doesn’t matter. It’s safely in the hands of the Rebellion by now. Wait… how did you six even find me?”

“We were looking for the Rebellion,” Ganodi said, “We want to fight back against the Empire.”

“But not right now,” Gungi said firmly, “Ahsoka, you need to rest.”

“We all should,” Katooni clarified, “Uh, Ganodi, help me clear out one of the bunks.”

...

_“Help!” Katooni yelped as she was pulled backwards out of the vent. She scrambled for something to stop herself from getting pulled out into the open— anything. _

_The only thing she found was Petro’s hand. And he wasn’t strong enough. _

_So, naturally, both of them got dragged out. _

_“No!” Gungi roared. _

_“Don’t!” Petro yelled as a blaster was aimed at Katooni’s face. _

_Suddenly, the clone holding Katooni cried out and slumped over, the laser blast going off and hitting the wall harmlessly._

_A clone came towards Katooni, his blaster lowered, though that didn’t make the 6 feel any better. _

_Katooni ignited her lightsaber, “Don’t come any closer!”_

_“It’s okay, kid,” The clone removed his helmet and put his blaster on the floor, “I won’t hurt you.”_

_“Why should we believe you?” Petro challenged._

_“You’re Jedi, aren’t you?” The clone asked, “You can just look in my head and see.”_

_“Kat,” Zatt mumbled under his breath, “You’re the best with reading people.”_

_Katooni reached out with her feelings. He was worried, but… the clone did feel sincere. _

_“He’s telling the truth,” Katooni assured them, lowering her saber, “Who are you?”_

_“The boys call me Red,” The clone said, “I’m one of a few clones to have my inhibitor chip removed.”_

_“Inhibitor chip?” Zatt asked. _

_“You think my brothers would willingly murder children?” Red asked, “They’re being controlled. They have no choice. I was one of the only ones Captain Rex could put through the procedure to remove my chip _and_ get me to the temple in time.”_

_“_One_ of the only ones?” Petro asked skeptically._

_“Red, we gotta go!” another clone came in, “Oh. Hey, kids. My name is Chase.”_

_“Here,” Red handed Katooni a holo-map, “Follow this through the vents. We’ll meet you on the other side.”_

_“Okay,” Katooni really had no idea what to say, but she shoved Petro back into the vent, “How can we be sure we can trust you?”_

_Red shrugged, “You can’t. But if you don’t trust us, you’re dead for sure.”_

_Katooni nodded and climbed back into the vent. _

_“You’re really willing to bet our lives on that?” Zatt asked. _

_Katooni shook her head, “I really, really don’t want to. But I don’t think we have a better choice.”_

...

Katooni started awake. Ganodi was staring at her through the darkness from the other top bunk, glaring. Ahsoka was still asleep below her, apparently unaffected by the dream.

“Are you ever going to admit something’s wrong?” The Rodian whispered.

“Nothing is wrong,” Katooni insisted, just as quietly.

“Yes, it is! If it wasn’t, you wouldn’t be dreaming about the worst night of our lives every night!”

“Shh!”

They snuck a glance at Ahsoka to make sure she was still asleep. Katooni motioned for them to take the argument outside.

“Talk to someone!” Ganodi exclaimed once the door was closed, “Even if it’s not me! Zatt! Petro—.”

“Why would I talk to him, of all people?” Katooni asked, “Half the time, we hate each other’s guts!”

“And when you don’t, you’re a force to be reckoned with! We all know that the two of you resonate more closely than any of us, and on the off chance that you’re fighting someone other than each other, nothing and no one can beat you! That’s why I find it completely ridiculous that you can’t put your differences aside and _get along!_”

“He makes me crazy!” Katooni insisted, “_Maybe _our Force-signatures are similar, but mentally, we couldn’t be more different! There’s a reason we’re always fighting! We are literally polar opposites!”

“The way I see it, the only differences between you two are that he has a complete lack of impulse-control and a bigger ego!”

“Those are two very big differences,” Katooni pointed out.

Ganodi sighed, “Kat, come on. I know you won’t talk to me, and even though Zatt won’t tell anyone what you say, you won’t talk to him, either. Of course, Byph and Gungi are terrible at keeping secrets, and none of us would ever be stupid enough to open up to them. Polar opposites or not, Petro is the one person you might actually talk to, so why don’t you?”

“I don’t need to talk to anyone,” Katooni insisted.

Ganodi hissed in annoyance and went back into their cabin, tossing something at Katooni’s head before she closed the door.

Katooni looked at the thing she’d caught without thinking.

It was a holo recording. There were multiple time stamps. Even the most recent recording, Katooni didn’t recognize. It was from almost ten years ago.

...

_ **“You’re crossing the wires wrong! If you keep trying to wire it like that, ** **it’s going to blow up in both our faces!”** _

_ **“Says the girl who blew up the last ship we tried to fix!”** _

_ **“At least that one was on the ground! Also, you’ve been blowing shit up since you first tried to make your lightsaber!”** _

_ **“Go to hell!”** _

_ **“Let me handle this or we both will!”** _

The holo of Katooni’s 14-year-old self shoved Petro out of the way and started rewiring the motherboard herself.

**_“Hang on,”_ ** young Katooni muttered, _**“You need to get to the turret. Be ready to blast this guy out of our way.”**_

Young Petro stared at her like she was crazy, _**“Kat, we don’t have any power!”**_

_**“We will in a minute,”**_ Katooni snapped, _**“So shut up and get to the turret gun!”**_

Petro glared at her for an instant before running off towards the guns.

_**“Here’s hoping this works,”**_ Katooni muttered.

The holo split in two, showing both of them at the same time.

_**“I’m here!”**_ Petro called into his headset.

_**“Be ready!”**_ Katooni called back, **_“In three, two…”_**

**_“One!”_** Petro finished.

At the exact second Katooni crossed the final two wires, Petro fired. The title fighter exploded.

_**“Whoo!”** _They both cheered.

Katooni in the present-day watched the triumphant grins on their faces, not really seeing what Ganodi was trying to get at, here. It was obviously old camera footage from The Sunset.

The image fizzled and shifted, changing to a scene where the two were standing in the hallway. They were a bit older in this one; maybe 16. Katooni was pretty sure she recognized this mission.

_**“If we go in there, it’ll be hell,”**_ 16-year-old Katooni muttered, _**“We might not survive long enough to rescue the others.”**_

_**“That’s a chance I’m willing to take,”**_ 16-year-old-Petro said firmly, **_“We’re a family. Nobody hurts our family without consequences, and we sure as hell don’t leave any of our own behind.”_**

Katooni sighed and took the hand that he offered. Both of them looked angry, but the present-day Katooni knew how scared the two of them had really been that day.

_**“We’re not losing anyone else,”**_ Katooni said finally.

_**“We’re going to save our family, or die trying,”** _Petro agreed.

The next scene was stolen footage Katooni hadn’t realized Ganodi had kept. They’d had to take it from the star destroyer to keep anyone from identifying them, but that didn’t mean they automatically had to keep it.

The scene was of Katooni and Petro fighting together. It was on that mission, where the others had been captured. They’d been outnumbered hundreds to one, backed into a hallway. The others were hurt. All either of them had known in that fight was the need to protect their family. To watch each other’s backs and give the injured Ganodi time to get to the cockpit.

Neither of them had known if they’d make it out of that fight.

Neither of them had cared.

Katooni still remembered the feeling of fighting by his side, not having to worry about holding back or showing mercy. That fight was life and death and all they had to rely on was each other. All they knew was that if either of them faltered for even an instant, one of them could die. They’d had to trust each other completely.

And they did. They’d been 100% in-sync, trusting in the fact that when one fell back, the other would be right there, leaning down to let their partner roll over their back. When Katooni reached over, Petro was ready to swing her around to use a combo move. When Petro fell, Katooni was ready to help him up without even looking.

Katooni could still remember the feeling. The exhilaration of fighting with someone so perfectly in tune with her. Standing back to back and feeling their collective force getting stronger as they moved in a deadly combination.

It had felt like they were meant to fight together.

And… this was Ganodi’s point. On the off chance that they were actually getting along, Katooni and Petro made an unstoppable team. Katooni just hadn’t wanted to remember it.

Because Petro was an insufferable egomaniac and as useful as he and Katooni being on good terms was, it was extremely unlikely to happen any time soon, especially since he was currently blocking her.

Ganodi couldn’t know that. If she did, she wouldn’t be trying so hard to make Petro and Katooni get along.

That meant that Petro really was blocking only her.

...

In the morning, breakfast was even more awkward than it usually was, which was truly saying something.

“So, how did you all find me?” Ahsoka asked finally, “I mean, you said you were looking for the Rebellion, but how were you even doing that?”

“We melded our powers,” Byph explained.

“Sorry… what?”

“We can do this thing where we meld our powers and make all of us stronger so we can sense things and people long-distance,” Petro clarified.

Ahsoka still looked confused, “I’ve heard of that. My master told me he even did it once. But I’ve never heard of it being that precise.”

“It only works as well as it does because we trust each other completely,” Katooni explained, “We’ve known each other since… well, forever. The trust that comes from that is unbreakable. We only work so well together because of it.”

Katooni didn’t even realize that she was staring at Petro until he glared at her back.

“What did I do this time, boss girl?”

The nickname triggered a flicker of annoyance. Katooni had specifically told Petro never to call her that. For the most part, he hadn’t, ever since they were around 12 and she’d first told him she hated the name.

It wasn’t an accident that he was calling her that, now. He was trying to make her seem like the irrational one in the coming argument, knowing the rest of the group would naturally side with Katooni.

But she couldn’t read anything else from him, which just made her angrier.

“Oh, that’s low,” Katooni growled, “Trying to make me angry to make the others side with you—newsflash—we learned the same negotiation games from the same guy, and guess what? I was his favorite.”

“Yeah, because having a pirate love you like a daughter is such a compliment. _Come on, _Kat. You’re not the only one angry, here.”

“That’s funny, making it seem like I don’t have a reason to be.”

“What’s she talking about, Petro?” Gungi asked cautiously.

“Oh, that’s right!” Petro exclaimed, standing up suddenly, “Side with Kat, just like you always do! Just like all of you always do! She’s not the only one here who has survived everything all of us have been through!”

“No, she’s not,” Zatt said carefully, “Guys, clearly there’s something going on here, so you two are going to go to the bridge, and neither of you are allowed to leave until you’ve talked things through. Now, preferably, you’ll reach some kind of consensus and be friends again. But, realistically, if you’re just going to fight until you reach some twisted truce and grudgingly get along, that’ll work, too. Just… go and work whatever this is out.”

As Katooni stood up with a huff and followed the human to the bridge, she heard Ahsoka’s mildly confused question over her shoulder.

“So… is this a normal thing?”

As soon as the door to the bridge was closed, the yelling started.

“Why the hell can’t you just pretend we’ve actually got years of shared trauma and friendship like we do?” Petro shouted, “We’ve been through literally everything together, so why is it that we can never get along?!”

“Because you’re an idiot and I hate you!” Katooni shot back.

“Real mature! I can _feel _your anger, so why don’t you tell me what the hell is going on with you?”

Katooni laughed harshly, “Oh, as if you don’t know.”

“Why can’t you just tell me like a normal person?”

“You really thought I wouldn’t notice?” Katooni shouted, “We have a bond, Petro. All of us, since we were little kids! I know you better than I know myself!”

“So why are we still arguing?” he shot back.

“Because you’re blocking me!”

Petro went silent as Katooni yelled it suddenly, letting him know exactly what was going on. His face looked somewhere between embarrassed and still angry. There was only a little guilt.

The silence was somehow more deafening than their argument had been, and it was more than Katooni could take, but she managed to continue in a much quieter tone.

“You’re right, we’ve been through everything together,” she admitted, “But that was supposed to make us trust each other. Not block each other out.”

“Maybe I needed some space,” Petro countered.

Katooni scoffed, “Space is fine. What’s not fine is that you’re blocking just me, and letting the others in. Don’t deny it.”

“I won’t,” he admitted, “But trust me. Me hiding things is for now is for the best. For the good of the team.”

“Seriously?” Katooni asked, “That’s what you’re going with? We work so well together because we share. Because we trust each other enough to not block each other. And you’re really going to tell me that breaking that trust with even one member is for the good of the team?”

“You don’t get it,” Petro insisted, “With what I’m feeling right now, if I let you feel it, too, it’ll just hurt you. It’ll change everything.”

“And it won’t with the others?”

“It’s complicated. You wouldn’t understand.”

“Yeah, I guess I’ll never get the chance to.”

Katooni made a split second decision, not caring about the consequences. If this was how things were going to be from now on, this was how it was going to be. She shouldn’t feel guilty about it. No, not at all. She wasn’t the one who’d started this.

Petro’s face turned shocked, “Did you just—“

“You did it first,” Katooni said tightly, leaving the bridge.

Technically, Zatt couldn’t hold her to anything. They had worked it out. Just not the way anyone had wanted.


End file.
